Ink-distributer for printing-presses.



l PNTBNTBD DEG. 25, 1906. T. P'. RAWLINGS. 1 INK DISTRIBUTER FIOR PRINTING IRESSES.

SHEET l.

APPLIQNTION FILED 11110.21, 1905.

2 SHEETS- `110.839,199. l PATBNTED 1350.251906.' 1 T. P. RAWLINGS.

INK DISTRIBUTER FOR PRINTING PRESSES. APPLIGATION FILED DBO.'21.1905.

v2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

\ THE NoRRls rma-Rs cu., wAsHlNsroN, n. c.

lTHOMAS P. RAWLINGS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

INK-DISTRIBUTER FOR PRINTING-PRESSES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 25, 1906.

Application flied December 21,1905. serial No. 292,768..

To a/ZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS P. RAWLINGS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ohicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement 1n Ink-Distributers for Printing-Presses, of which the following is a specimanner that the reciprocation will be positive and regular and at the same time comparatively slow in order to minimize the heat -due to the friction of the distributing-roller on the inking-rollers arising from the axial reciprocation of said distributing-roller.

It is also an object to provide means for yieldingly holding the distributing-roller in contact with the inking-rollers and to provide means whereby the pressure thereof may be regulated.

Another object is to rovide means whereby the distributing-rol er may be readily attached to and detached from the printing-.

press. p

I attain these objects by the mechanism .illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in

which- Figure 1 is a side view of device in operative position rollers of a printing-press.

my distributing upon the inking- Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the preferred means of attachment of the retaining-spring which holds the distributing-roller in frictional contact with the inking-rollers. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the ink-plate, showing the inking-rollers and the distributing-roller in position thereon. Fi .4 is a fragmentary view showing an end of t e distributing-roller, together with the eccentric gear whereby the distributingroller is reciprocated. Fig. 5 is a top view of the parts shown in 4.

Similar characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

This invention is designed to be used in connection with the ordinary platen printingpresses-such, for example, as the Gordon pressand in Fig. 1 of the drawings there is Shown such parts of a press of this kind as are adjacent to and related to the device embodying my invention.

a represents the ink-plate-of the printingpress; b, the oscillating or swinging framework for moving the inking-rollers across the surface of the ink-plate and type-form; c and d, the inking-rollers adapted to roll upon the ink-plate; e and f, the carriage wherein the rollers c and d are mounted, and g the sprin device whereby the inking-rollers are hel down with frictional contact against the surface of the ink-plate. These parts need no further description, as they are the parts ordinarily found in printing-presses of the above-mentioned kind. Y

Referring now to the-parts whichconstitute my im roved distributer, 1 represents a shaft or ax e to each end of which is rigidly secured a framework consisting in the present instance of a piece of metal 2, having the depending arms 2a and 2b and the forwardlyprojecting arm 2C. The arms 2a contact the inner edges of the carriages c for preventing lateral displacement of said axle and preferably contact the central portion thereof to equally distribute the lateral thrust of said arm relatively to the carriage, and thereby prevent a tendency to throw the carriage out of true osition. The arm 2b is adapted to project ownward over the outer edge of the carriages to afford points of attachment for the tension-sprin s. Arms 2 are adapted to. extend forwar so as to bear upon the forward roller-carriage f. With the framework 2 constructed in this manner it may be adjusted into position by merely placing it down upon the carriages e and f with roller 4 between and resting upon the two inkingrollers c. Said distributing-roller 4 rotates by reason of its frictional contact with said inking-rollers. Said roller 4 serves to distribute ink upon the rollers c and the inkplate and is loosely mounted on axle 1, so as to be both rotatable and laterally shiftable thereon. At the ends of roller 4 are rigidly secured the gears 5, which are adapted to mesh with the gears 6, eccentrically mounted upon the studs 7, fastened to shaft 1. Studs 7 are arranged with their axes at right angles to axle 1, and wheels 6 are free to rotate upon said studs. The parts 'are so constructed and assembled that the distance between the two studs 7 is equal to the distance between IOO the pitch-lines of the two gears 5 plus the pitch diameter of the eccentric gears 6. Consequently when the gear 5 at one end of the distributing-roller is engaged at the point of greatestJ eccentricity on one of the eccentric gears 6 the gear 5 at the other end of said distributing-roller is engaged at the point of least eccentricity on the other of said eccentric gears 6. As a result of this construction the rotation of roller 4 upon its axis produces a rotary movement of the gears 6 about their studs, and the rotary movement of said ec-Y centric gears 6 produces a reciprocatory movement of roller 4 lengthwise of axle 1. This axial reciprocation of roller 4 is produced always by the pushing action of such one of the gears 6 as is rotating from least to greatest eccentricity with reference to the polnt of engagement with gear 5, it being ob-` vious that the eccentric gears have no inuence to pull the gears 5 toward them. Unless special provision were made, therefore, the pushing action of the actively-operating wheel 6 would cause it to bind the teeth of its companion gear 5, and to prevent such binding I provide a disk 6a upon the gears 6, concentric with the pitch-line of the teeth thereof, and so arrange the parts that the said disk will abut against the adjacent portion of gear-wheel 5. Disk 6a thus constitutes what may be termed a pushing-ring, and although its location is not essential I prefer to locate it in the manner illustrated-that is to say, below the teeth of gears'-and I also prefer to have said rings abut theinner portion of gear-wheels 5, the teeth of said gearwheels beingcut off at their inner end upon a plane transverse to axle 1 and parallel to the adjacent surfaces of pushing-rings 6,

It is obvious that the roller 4 will make a complete axial reciprocation (forward and back) once for every complete revolution of the eccentric gears. Consequently the number of reciprocations relatively to the number of revolutions of the roller 4 will depend not upon the diameter of the roller, but upon the diameter of the eccentric gears relatively to the gears 5. I have found by experience that it is undesirable to have the distributing-roller make a complete reciprocation from one end and back again for every complete rotation of the roller upon its axis on account of the heating effect which such rapid reciprocation would produce upon the comparatively soft surfaces of the composition inking-rollers. I therefore reduce the rate of reciprocation by reducing the diameter of wheels 5 and increasing the diameter of wheels 6, and in the present preferred construction the diameters of the eccentric gears are twice the diameter of the gears 5. By constructing the parts in this proportion the distributing-roller 4 makes two complete revolutions for every complete reciprocation. This proportion, however, may be varied at will by varying the relative sizes of the intermeshing gears, and this ability to vary the ratio of rotation to reciprocation constitutes one of the advantageous features of my invention.

It is apparent that in my device a line joining the meshing points or points of contact of the two pairs of intermeshing gears is substantially parallel to the axis of the distributing-roller. vThis is another advantageous feature of my construction, for, as a result of it, the reciprocating force is, practically speaking, always parallel with the axis of rotation of the distributing-roller, and therefore there is eliminated all tendency to a skew or racking strain.

Still another advantageous feature resulting from this construction is that the lateral travel or reciprocation of the distributingroller may be varied by varying the eccentricity of gears 6, and in order to make provision for readily changing the eccentricity it is desirable to bore the eccentric gears at, say, three different points at different distances from the center of the gears and all adapted to receive the studs 7 for rotating about the Same as axes. This possible variation in the amount of lateral travel or reciprocation of the distributing-roller is an advantage in that it permits the device to be used as a color and chromatic attachment. In this regard it may be stated that it is well known to those skilled in the art that colory printing and chromatic printing may be produced by feeding different-colored inks onto the ink-plate at different points thereof, the ink-plate being held so as not to rotate. In chromatic printing the different colors are blended by overlapping them at their adjacent edges, and with my device by varying the lateral travel of the distributing-roller the blending of the colors may be varied and controlled.

It is desirable that a device of this character be readily attachable to printing-presses in which no special provision has been made for receiving it. As above pointed out, the frame-piece 2, to which the axle 1 is fastened and to which the spring 3 is attached, is adjustable onto the carriages e and f of the ordinary printing-press by merely being placed so as to properly rest thereon. In general the constructions of the different types of presses are similar, but it is obvious that the construction of the frames 2 may be considerably varied for use in connection with the presses of dHerent makers without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Not only are the roller-carriages c of different presses much alike in construction, but the reciprocating frames l) for causing the travel -of the rollers over the ink-plate and printing-form are in certain well-known and standard types of machines provided with an aperture b near the upper portion of swing- IOO IIO

, vice.v

l simi ing frame b, as showin in Figffl. Under some circumstances it is desirable to provide means for adjusting the tension of spring 3, and for the purpose of attaching it to the swinging frames of the kind here illustrated I provide a special attaching and tension-adjusting de- (Shown in Fig. 2,) Said device consists of two strips of metal 8 and 9, which are adapted to slide one lengthwise of the other and have at their extremities lugs 8a and 9EL for fitting over and engaging the edges ofthe frame b at apertures b. vThe piece 9 -has an apertured lug 9b, and piece 8 has an apertured lug 8b, which are disposed opposite to each other in the manner shown and are adapted to receive a stove-bolt 10 or other to force the lugs 8a and 9a apart, to thereby firmly grip the frame b to hold the ,device in place. The tension of spring 3 may be adjusted by adjusting the position of nut 11 upon the said boltA 10. It is obvious, therefore, that no special tools other than a screwdriver or wrench are required for .attaching the device in place and that the device .may be readily attached to a press of the ordinary type, although no s ecial provision has been made for such attac ent,

I desire to call attention to the fact that with the manner in which tension spring 3 is connected-that is, to the rollers and to frame b -said spring tends to relieve the springs grather than to increase their burden.

Although I have here shown a flat inkplate a, it will be understood that it is not essenti'al that it be flat, as a cylindrical one, with axis parallel to the roller-axes, would serve the same purpose.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is*

1. The combination, with the ink-plate and inking-rollers of a printing-press, of an ink-distributer consisting of a distributingroller adapted to make frictional contact with the inking-rollers to be rotated thereby, and means including eccentric gear-wheels for imparting an axial movement to said distributlng-roller.

2. The combination, with the ink-plate and inking-roller ofa vprinting-press, of a di stributing-roller ada ted to make frictional contact with said in {ing-rollers, to be driven thereby, gear-wheels Von said distributingroller and gear-wheels meshing therewith and eccentrically mounted upon axes which are laterally fixed with reference to the machine-frame forimparting alengthwise reciprocation to said distributing-roller.

3. The combination, with a printing-press including a stationary Jframework, a swinging framework and an ink-plate and inking-rollers onsaid swinging framework, of a rotating distributing-roller, adapted to make frictional contact with said inking-rollers, a bevel-gear fastened to each end of said distributing-roller,

ar device for drawing said lugstogether springs, one

and eccentric bevel-gears meshing with the first and havingaxes at right angles to the axis of said distributing-roller.

'4. The combination, with a printing-press including a lswinging framework, an inkplate, inking-rollers, and a roller-carriage operated by said swinging framework for moving said inking-roller's across the surface of vthe ink-plate, of a distributing-rollerrotatably mounted upon said carriage and adapted to reciprocate axially, means including two cooperating pairs of bevel gear-wheels lfor imparting a reciprocatory movement to said distributing-roller, and means foryieldingly holding said distributing-roller in frictional contact with said inking-rollers.

5. 'Ihe combination, with a printing-press including a swinging framework, an ink-plate,

inking-rollers and a roller-carriage operated by said swinging framework for moving said rollers across the surface of theink-plate; of a distributing-roller rotatably mounted upon said carriage and adaptedto reciprocate axially, means including two cooperating pairs of bevel gear-wheels for imparting a reciprocatory movement to said distributing-roller, and springs, one end connected to said distributing-roller and one end to the swinging framework for yieldingly holding said distributing-roller in contact with said inkingrollers. f

o. The combination, with a printing-press including a swinging framework, ink-plate,

inking-rollers and a roller-carriageg'of a distributing-roller rotatably mounted upon said carriage and adapted to reciprocate axially, means including two cooperating pairs of bevel gear-wheels for imparting a reciprocatory movement to end connected to said distributing-roller and the other end to the swinging framework, for yieldingly holding said distributing-roller in contact with said inkingrollers, and means for adjusting the tension of said springs.

7. The combination with a printing-press including a swinging framework, ink-plate, inking-rollers and a roller-carriage; of a distributing-roller rotatably mounted upon said carriage and adapted to reciprocate axially, means including two cooperating pairs of bevel gear-wheels for imparting a reciprocatory movement to said distributing-roller, springs,

one end connected to said distributing-roller and` means for disconnectibly connecting the other end of said spring to said swinging framework.

8. The combination, with a printing-press including a swinging framework, ink-plate, inking-rollers and a roller-carriage; of a distributing-roller rotatably mounted upon said carriage and adapted to reciprocatey axially, means including two cooperating pairs of bevel gear-wheels for imparting a reciprocatory movement to said distributing-roller,

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clamps adapted to disconnectibly engage said swinging framework, and springs, one end connected to said distributing-roller and the other end to said clamps.

9. The combination, with a printing-press including a stationary framework; a swinging framework; an ink-plate and inking-rollers; of a rotating distributing-roller adapted to reciprocate in an axial direction and intermeshing gear-wheels one on said swinging framework and the other on said distributing-roller; one of said wheels being mounted eccentrically for imparting an axial reciprocation to said distributing-roller.

10. A printing-press having an ink-plate, inking-rollers and a swinging framework for moving said inking-rollers across the face of said plate;,in combination with a rotatable and axially shiftable distributing roller adapted to make frictional contact with said inking-rollers, and a pair of intermeshing gearwheels for axially shifting said distributingroller, one of said wheels being non-shiftable relatively to said distributing-roller and the other being non-shiftable relatively to said inking-rollers, and one of said wheels being eccentric with reference to its axis of rotation.

11, A printing-press having an ink-plate, inking-rollers and a swinging framework for moving said rollers across the face of said plate; in combination with a rotatable and axially-shiftable distributing-roller adapted to make frictional contact with said inkingrollers; two pairs of intermeshing gear-wheels for axially shifting said distributing-roller; one wheel of each pair being non-shiftable relatively to said distributing-roller; and the other wheel of each pair being non-shiftable relatively to said hiking-rollers; and one wheel of each pair being eccentric with ref erence to its axis; and pushing-rings on said wheels for the purpose described.

12. A printing-press having an ink-plate7 inking-rollers and a swinging framework for moving said inking-rollers across the face of said plate; in combination with a rotatable and axially shiftable distributing-roller adapted to make frictional contact with said hiking-rollers, an axle whereon said distributing-roller is mounted and eccentrically-rotatable members at each end of said axle for preventing lateral displacement thereof.

13. A printing-press having an ink-plate, inking rollers and a swinging framework for moving said inking-rollers across the face of said plate; in combination with a rotatable and axially shiftable distributing-roller adapted to make frictional contact with said hiking-rollers, an axle whereon said distributingroller is mounted; and eccentricalb -rotatable members near each end of said axle for preventing lateral displacement thereof, the axes of said eccentrically-rotatable menibers being non-coincident with the axis of said axle.

In witness whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS P. RAWLIN GS.

Witnesses:

HOWARD M. Cox, CAROLYN RAFTERY. 

